The Story of A
by Borderline247
Summary: The story of an ill fated love triangle between L, Beyond Birthday, and A. In this story A is a girl and there will be yaoi between B and L. Also the timeline is a little different, but it's set at Wammy's. Mello, Matt, and Near are not in it, sorry.


The young man walked down the prison hallway, shoulders hunched, following his tour guide, one of the guards named Marshall. The other guards as well as the inmates observed him with raised eyebrows. He seemed oddly at ease for someone visiting Crenshire prison, home to some of the most dangerous, not to mention insane, criminals. They'd be even more surprised if they knew that he'd put most of them behind bars.

As they reached the end of the long dank hall they came to a heavy metal door with a padlock on it. Marshall reached for the keys on his belt and unlocked it. He pushed it open, turning to face the man next to him as the door swung with a loud creaking sound. He jumped back as the man was closer than expected, leaning into Marshall's face.

"Umm...I'm just going to get them to shut off the security system. Wait here, alright?" said Marshall. The man nods and suddenly drops into a crouch, knees up, thumb in his mouth. "Uh, okay then."

Marshall slipped past the metal door, frowning. Of course, in his profession he had met many odd people, mostly crazy people. But wasn't this man supposed to be a well respected investigator who had come to question and get information out of one of their most dangerous criminals? Oh well, it didn't concern him.

The other guards continued to scrutinize the young man and his expression a monotone mask, a perfect poker face despite the fact that his thoughts were tangling and overlapping in his mind. It was a great mind, no doubt, but even geniuses get confused. And this man most certainly was a genius. He could solve complicated problems that would take others hours in only seconds. He could catch the world's most wanted criminals, he could guess how many marbles were in a jar by just one look at it (and be right), he could split the atoms in a molecule, and, heck, he might even be able to solve global warming and world hunger if they let him take a crack at it! But some things even he couldn't figure out. Especially when he was here.

He had got into Crenshire under the pretences of getting information. This was true, but the information wouldn't benefit the case he was working on. This decision to come here was not a wise one. He should be spending all of his time on the case. No, this decision was emotionally based. From the heart. Irrational. Those kinds of decisions could get you into a world of trouble. But he decided to come here anyways. The questions he had needed answers. They drove him mad all day and all night, making it impossible to sleep. Well, if he did sleep. It was more of an annoyance than anything else. Also with all these things on his mind nothing that he used to enjoy seemed as good as it did before. Not even strawberries tasted as sweet.

"Okay, you can come in now."

The man looked up at Marshall who was ushering him towards the metal door. He stood up and followed him through. Inside was a small square room where two guards sat at a desk. Behind them he could see a bow for a laser beam system. He took in the sight with appreciation, nodding to himself. Good. They knew how dangerous this criminal was. Marshall led him around a corner in the room to another metal door. The man looked up at Marshall, waiting.

"Go on. I already unlocked it. Just remember to keep away from the bars. Scream if he tries anything."

The man's mouth twisted up slightly in amusement. He knew how to handle himself just fine. Marshall nodded good-bye to him and walked back around the corner, leaving the man to turn around and stare at the door.

It seemed so ominous, opening this door. Who knows what the person behind it would tell him? Would the answers send him more over the edge than the questions? Would he get answers at all, or just riddles? The man placed his hand on the door. The metal was cold and icy. He took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh, as if accepting something difficult, which, in a way, he was. And so, feeling as if he was not standing on the threshold of a door, but something much greater and far more vast, he pushed it open, stepped inside, and let it close.

His eyes flickered around the room in a rapid fashion, absorbing the scene before him. The walls and floor were dirty grey cement, the room itself was a tiny square and half of it was barred. Behind the bars, in one corner attached to the wall, there was a small stained mattress, a flat pillow, and a thin sheet. There was also a bench nailed to the wall and a urinal. Just outside the bars a single light bulb hung from a string connected to the ceiling. It cast dim shadows around the room and on the man crouched in the cell.

He sat with his knees up, elbows draped over them lazily. His head snapped up at the noise of the man entering, dark hair falling in his almost black eyes, which the man saw were tinted with red and had a small spark of madness dancing within them. A wide smile, more of a smirk really, stretched out upon his face.

"Hello L."  
>For some reason his tone of voice didn't seem as hateful as L had expected. He watched the man as he lifted his thumb to his mouth. The imitation is perfect.<p>

"Hello Beyond." L walked over to the bars and crouched in front of them in the same stance.

"So, why has the _world's greatest detective_ come here to grace his _poor_ Backup with his _brilliant_ presence?" Beyond said with a chuckle, cocking his head to the side.

"I want to ask you some questions." Beyond raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Have a case you can't solve L? Here to ask a serial killer their perspective?"

"No. I'm here to ask you about an old friend of ours from Wammy's." BB frowned at the name of the orphanage.

"Who?" He growled, but then let out a strange cackle at some private thought that didn't match his tone.

"A." Beyond Birthday flinched in response to the letter, but quickly regained his composure even though his heart pounded painfully in his chest. He cursed himself mentally. He thought he had gotten rid of all those _feelings_. Useless things.

"Oh, _her_."

B suddenly reached up to the collar of his grimy black long sleeve, pulling something out of it. It glinted silver in the light and L immediately caught sight of what it was. Beyond pulled it off his neck and dangled it in front of L, taunting him. A silver charm of the letter A hung from a long chain.

L lost control of himself for a moment and stuck his hand through the bars, trying to snatch the necklace from B's grasp. Beyond let out a booming laugh and darted back out of L's reach, and somehow managing in the process to bite down hard on L's pinkie at the same time. L pulled his hand back.

"Didn't they tell you not to stick your hands in my cage? I'm quite venomous." B laughed. L stared at the bite marks on his hand.

"She wouldn't want you to have it." L whispered in a monotone voice that somehow sounded murderous at the same time.

"I beg to differ. She gave it to me." L looked up.

"You're lying."

"Nope. She said 'so you'll always have a piece of me'. Cliché, but sweet." Beyond smiled.

"But that was her most prized possession. The only thing her parents left her. Why would she give it away?" B shrugged.

"A goodbye present perhaps. It wasn't long before...well, you know." He trailed off.

"She told me her real name." L said, out of a jealous impulse more than anything else.

"Oh did she now?" Although B already knew A's real name, thanks to his shinigami eyes, he was still extremely envious that A had told L, though he didn't show it. A had told L out of her own free will, unlike B who had found out due to his ability. She wouldn't tell him. Beyond wanted everything that A had to give to be his. She owed him that much.

"Yes. I wonder if she wanted to give me a goodbye gift as well."

"Perhaps. So what did you want to ask, L?"

" I want you to tell me how she died." Beyond tilted his head to the side.

"You already know how. She killed herself. She couldn't handle life, so she committed suicide and welcomed death. She had _nothing_ worth living for." His tone of voice changed at the last sentence. Both their hearts suffered a painful jerk.

"I think you killed her. I am about 50% sure that you did." Beyond grinned at the blunt statement.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Either way, I regret nothing. But I don't feel like telling you about A and I,_Lawliet_." He stretched out L's real name, rolling the letters over his tongue. L sighed.

"I expected that much. That's why I'm going to persuade you." B snorted.

"With what? Lollipops?"

" Close." L reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small jar of strawberry jam, along with a plastic spoon. BB wondered vaguely how he had fit that in his pocket, but didn't question it, for he was too busy pressing his face against the bars eagerly. It had been so long since he'd had anything but bread and water. And this was his absolute favourite. L's mouth turned upwards in a tiny smile.

"If you tell me how A really died I'll give you this-'' he gestured to the jam. "And I'll tell you her real name." B bit his lip. He already knew A's real name, but L didn't believe Beyond about his shinigami eyes though he had told him about them before. However he wanted the jam desperately. Also this story would drive L mad, whether it was the truth or not. He would love to watch the 'greatest detective' Lawliet squirm.

"Alright. I'll tell you how she died." L's eyes narrowed

"So did you kill her?" Beyond feigned a sigh.

"Oh, her story isn't that simple. I cannot just answer yes or no. No, A's story is quite complex, just like she was. But before we get to that, may I have some jam?" L rolled his eyes.

"That's just like you." he muttered. L unscrewed the jam jars lid and dug the spoon in. He then held the spoon through the bars and waited. B stared at it.

"I can feed myself." he grumbled.

"I know. However I think you'd be able to turn even a plastic spoon into a breakout device if I gave it to you." Beyond smirked. This was probably true. And so, Beyond clamped his mouth down on the spoon, lapping up the jam hungrily. Some spilled over onto L's hand. When the spoon was licked clean, L was surprised to find Beyond licking the jam off of his hand. He let out a small sigh as Beyond Birthday's tongue touched the sensitive spots in between his fingers. When B was finished L pulled his hand back, heart thudding loudly, skin hot. BB saw the look on his face and chuckled softly.

"So, down to business. I will tell you the two stories of A." L raised his eyebrows.

"Two?"

"Yes, two. The one where she killed herself and the one where I killed her. But, in both stories, the events leading up to her death- suicide or murder- really did happen. I swear upon my life that they are true. Though I suppose that oath isn't worth much to you." L looked Beyond in the eyes.

"You have no idea how much your life means to me B." Beyond smiled in a sad, strangely sincere way. He stared at L's forehead.

"Same to you, Lawliet, same to you." Before L could wonder what he meant B blinked, as if he was coming out of some sort of trance. "I suppose we should start with the one where she killed herself. In this story, you have just as much of a hand in her death as I." L looked confused.

"I do?" Beyond snorted.

"Oh yes. Don't tell me you've forgotten how much pressure you put on there. Having to study hard, change your point of view, be flawless every single minute of every single day, all to live up to the title of "L". To be your successor. And she cared about that more than any of your successors. More than Matt, more than Mello, more than Near. More than me. She craved your attention the most out of all of us. And you gave it to her. And I gave it to her. But once you and I gave it to each other, that really sent her over the edge. As it did to you when you knew about her and I, and as it did to I when I knew about you and her." L hung his head.

"Love is truly an impractical and pointless waste of time that only breaks hearts and impairs minds." L whispered sorrowfully. Beyond Birthday only sneered.

"Well I wouldn't call what us three had love." He murmured. "Oh, no. It was much more deep and passionate than a throw away word like love. It was hate, it was devotion, it was... ecstasy." B sighed. "But mostly hate. Yes, hate and jealousy destroyed everything in the end." L let out a small laugh once B was finished speaking.

"I didn't think you were one for morals." Beyond Birthday smirked.

"Yes, I suppose that there is a moral to this story, isn't there? So perhaps you'll learn something from this particular tale L." Beyond finished in a different voice. "And so it begins... The story of A."


End file.
